Riding the Raisina Tiger

Riding the Raisina Tiger - a Politico-military thriller about an Army Chief who decided to take things into his own hands. AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD ON 26 JAN ON OCCASION OF REPUBLIC DAY FROM https://www.amazon.com/Riding-Raisina-Tiger-Story-military-ebook/dp/B01ALCCNSS

Custom Search Engine - Scans Selected News Sites

Monday, 21 October 2013

Defence Minister,
NSA to review 15-day gun battle against large group of intruders in J&K

Srinagar/New
Delhi, October 20

There is a growing
disquiet over the 15-day Army operation, stretching on until well up to the
second week of this month, in the Keran sector of Kupwara district in the
north-west of J&K.

Defence Minister
AK Antony will hold a high-level meeting with the armed forces later this month
during which he is expected to review the Keran operation. The meeting comes
against the backdrop of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing his concern to
the Defence Ministry over the handling of the operations, where it claimed to
have engaged a large group of terrorists although nobody was found there after
15 days.

Antony’s review
meeting will also include Defence Secretary RK Mathur and National Security
Adviser Shivshankar Menon, who had briefed the Prime Minister about the
incident, is also expected to be present.

Prime Minister
Manmohan had expressed concern over the incident as a lot of "exaggerated
claims" were made by Army formations about their success. However, the
results did not match the claims, reports said.

The army
operations, which were said to have been stopped on October 8, continued even
five days later till a joint BSF-Army managed to reach the three border posts
located in Shalabhatu, a village divided between J&K and
Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, official sources said.

The Army's version
that it killed eight terrorists around the site of infiltration appeared in
contradiction with the FIRs filed by its units with the local police that said
the causalities were reported from three different places that are far off from
the Shalabatu village.

The three posts --
Khokhri, Kulari and Mangerta -- jointly held by the BSF and Army were taken
over last Saturday.

In an email reply
to questions, the Army Headquarters denied it and said, "This is
incorrect. The troops on the ground were dominating the LoC and regularly
approaching own posts at all times."

However, the Army,
in its reply, maintained that during the operations, 59 weapons including 18 AK
rifles were recovered.

Shalabatu village
was one of the known infiltration routes in early 1990s. A report filed by
central as well as state security agencies about the Keran encounter have
picked holes in the Army's version of the episode.

The first FIR was
registered on September 24 in which one militant, aged 65-70, was killed. The
FIR, 237/13 was filed in Kupwara mentioning that an encounter had taken place
at Lasadnath area, a place from where it takes three days to reach Shalabatu. —
PTI

Claims,
counter-claims

Army's version that it killed 8 terrorists
around the site of infiltration appeared in contradiction with the FIRs filed
by its units with the local police.

The causalities were reported from 3
different places that are far off from the Shalabatu village, the site of the
intrusion

The Defence Ministry has discussed with the
Army HQ the issue in which details of operations figured prominently

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/main2.htm

Pak PM rakes up
Kashmir; US says won’t intervene

Islamabad/Washington,
October 20

Ahead of his
meeting with President Barack Obama, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today
sought US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue. The Obama
Administration, on its part, was quick to dismiss the demand.

“There has not been an iota of
change in our policy on Kashmir which considers it a bilateral issue between
India and Pakistan,” said a senior US official.

Earlier in the day, Sharif,who
arrived in the US on four-day visit, had said: "Though India did not want
such (third party) intervention, but the world powers should get involved to
resolve the (Kashmir) issue.

"India and Pakistan both
were nuclear powers and the region was a nuclear flash point," state-run
APP news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying. Replying to a query on
Kashmir, Sharif said during his US visit in July 1999 amid the Kargil conflict,
he had clearly told then President Bill Clinton that if the US intervened,
Kashmir issue could be resolved.

"I told him if he spends
10 per cent of the time he was spending on the Middle East, the Kashmir issue
between the two countries would resolve," he said.

Sharif said for the last 60
years both sides were entangled in an arms race. — PTI

India rejects Sharif’s demand

Rejecting Nawaz Sharif's
demand for US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue, External Affairs
Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said India will not accept this as the
matter is a bilateral one agreed to between the two nations. "There is no
way in which India will accept any intervention on an issue that is entirely
accepted in the Simla Agreement as a bilateral issue between India and
Pakistan," he said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/main2.htm#2

US quietly
releasing $1.6 bn aid to Pak

Washington,
October 20

The United States
has quietly decided to release more than $1.6 billion in military and economic
aid to Pakistan. The aid was suspended when relations between the two countries
disintegrated over the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the
deadly US air strikes against Pakistani soldiers.

Officials and
Congressional aides said ties have improved enough to allow the money to flow
again. The US and Pakistan recently announced the restart of their “strategic
dialogue” after a long pause.

Pakistan’s new
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is traveling to Washington for talks this coming
week with President Barack Obama.

According to Fox
News, Congress has cleared most of the money, and it should start moving early
next year, officials and Congressional aides said.

The State
Department and the US Agency for International Development informed Congress
that it planned to restart a wide range of assistance for Pakistan, mostly
dedicated to helping the country fight terrorism.

The US sees that
effort as essential as it withdraws troops from neighbouring Afghanistan next
year and tries to leave a stable government behind. Other funds include help
for Pakistani law enforcement and a multibillion-dollar dam in disputed
territory. — ANI

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/main2.htm#3

Assessing if Pak
is serious about LoC truce: India

Says DGMOs are
trying to find a way forward to end violations

KV Prasad/TNS

Moscow, October 20

India is trying to
assess whether Pakistan is serious or not about restoring truce along the Line
of Control. It also said it will give the Directors General of Military
Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries a chance to end ceasefire violations
before deciding its next strategy.

Sources in the
government said following the decision arrived at after a meeting between Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York
last month, the two DGMOs are in touch.

"The two
DGMOs are in touch and it is for them to find a way. Let both try and work a
way forward and we will assess the situation whether there is seriousness on
part of Pakistan side to respect and restore ceasefire," the sources said
here.

There are reports
that the DGMOs on either side are expected to meet soon to discuss the
ceasefire violations. Sources said while it was natural at this time of the
year to see a 'spike' in infiltration attempts, the government will analyse the
data and see if there is a pattern to it. With winter about to set in, there
are infiltration attempts from across the border.

According to data
available, the number of incidents last year was slightly over 100. By the
first week of October this year, the number of incidents have nearly doubled.
"Certainly it is more than last year. We will analyse and draw conclusions
about Pakistan behaviour'' the sources said.

However, the
sources said there was no confirmation available of a possible meeting between
the two DGMOs on Monday, as being reported by some newspapers in Pakistan.

LoC trouble

There are reports that the DGMOs on either
side are expected to meet soon to discuss the ceasefire violations

According to data available, the number of
incidents last year was slightly over 100. By the first week of October this
year, the number of incidents have nearly doubled

With winter about to set in, infiltration
attempts from across the border are set to rise further

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/nation.htm#3

Retired paramilitary men seek better deal

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, October
20

With lakhs of
paramilitary personnel facing threat to their lives in Naxal-hit areas and
along the frontiers with Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, their retired brethren
have asked for compassionate treatment while dealing with cases of their family
pension and medical treatment. They have also demanded the setting up of a
commission to deal with pending issues.

The paramilitary
forces include the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial
Security Force (CISF) and Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB). The existing strength of
these forces is around 11 lakh, while the number of retired one is around 9
lakh.

The BSF is the
first line of defence along the Indo-Pak and the Indo-Bangladesh border, the
ITBP is posted shoulder-to-shoulder with the Army along the frontier with
China, the CRPF undertakes anti-Maoist operations, while the CISF guards key
installations like atomic energy plants, industrial complexes, oil refineries
and airports.

Retired
paramilitary personnel, under the aegis of the All-India Central Paramilitary
Forces Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association, have announced that they will now
gherao headquarters of the each force at the Central Government Offices (CGO)
complex in New Delhi.

In a letter to the
PM, the association has pointed out the nature of their duties is akin to that
of military personnel, but do not get all the facilities and privileges to
which the armed forces personnel are entitled. The association has also
demanded a separate set of rules like the three armed forces.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/nation.htm#4

Fighter jets getting facelift with modern
gadgetry

Dassault deal far
away, IAF begins fleet upgrade

Ajay Banerjee/TNS

New Delhi, October
20

Faced with the
reality that the deal to buy 126 new fighters from France’s Dassault Aviation
will not be inked for the next few months and could possibly be delayed till
the next government is in saddle in May next year, the Indian Air Force has
begun upgrading a major chunk of its fleet of fighters.

The IAF faces a
crisis as the key IAS official handling the Dassault Aviation purchase in the
Ministry of Defence died of an heart attack a couple of weeks ago. The process
is complex and the new appointee may take a few months to understand the matter
that relates to purchase of 125 twin-engine Rafale planes at the cost of $15
billion (approx Rs 90,000 crore at today’s valuation). Moreover, the ongoing
issue of localisation of production is yet to be sorted out.

As of now, the IAF
is upgrading some 210 fighter jets in its fleet to meet the challenges and equip
the planes with the gadgetry of today’s war fighting scenario. The upgrades
will be on the Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and Jaguar, all purchased in the 1980s from
France, Russia and the UK, respectively.

The next phase
will be to upgrade the older lot of Sukhoi-30 MKI planes to equip them with
latest radars like the ‘X-band’ allowing a simultaneous track on 30 aerial
targets and engage at least six of them. Also the radar signature will be
reduced and it will have a new longer range missiles.

The upgrade was anyway
needed to bring the planes in tune with latest technology, but the slow place
on deciding on the purchase of 126 Rafale has added a tinge of urgency. The IAF
Chief had said on October 4: “Negotiations are still on. I cannot place a
timeline on when the deal will be signed…The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and
Dassault are in talks and hope they come with an agreement”.

Besides this,
starting next year, three different versions of the MiG 21 planes are to be
phased out. Also the MiG 27, another Soviet-era plane used by the IAF, will be
phased out. These two planes form the lowest layer of IAF fighter jets in terms
of technology. The MiG 29, the Mirage-2000 and the Jaguar are the second layer
while Sukhoi-30 MKI is the frontline top-layer.

The IAF has a
sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons (some 16 to 18 planes in each) but it has
just 33. The 34th, a Sukhoi-30-MKI squadron, is being raised at Sirsa in
Haryana.

The upgrades will
make the IAF carry on with the older planes for at least 15 more years. The MiG
29 fleet of 62 twin-engined planes inducted in the mid 1980s is being upgraded
at a cost of $964 million. The upgrade will convert these planes into
multi-role fighters, a new avionics suite, latest radars. Similarly the fleet
of 51 Mirage-2000 planes is being upgraded under a $2.4 billion contract by
Dassault Aviation, its manufacturer. This will also have a new radar, a night
vision compatible digital cockpit, helmet-mounted sights and new missiles.

Fitness exercise

* The upgrades
will be on the Mirage-2000, MiG-29 and Jaguar, all purchased in the 1980s from
France, Russia and the UK, respectively.

* The next phase
will be to upgrade the older lot of Sukhoi-30 MKI planes to equip them with
latest radars like the 'X-band' allowing a simultaneous track on 30 aerial
targets

* The Jaguars,
around 100 with the IAF, called the ‘deep penetration strike aircraft’, will
get a new engine and weapons delivery system

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131021/edit.htm#1

Pak violations

Sharif must end
firing on border

For the past few
months now, exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Indian soldiers have become
the norm along the Line of Control (LoC). Of late, however, firing has erupted
between the two sides along the international border (IB) that divides J&K
and Pakistani Punjab. In recent incidents, a BSF constable has been killed,
four others and six local residents have been wounded. The incidents of firing
are a gross violation of an agreement reached between the two countries in
November 2003 to observe ceasefire along all three portions of the borders with
Pakistan in J&K — the LoC, IB and the Actual Ground Position Line. The
agreement held for about nine years before Pakistani troops began violating it
on a near regular basis last year.

In recent months,
not only has the frequency of violations increased, but the incidence of firing
has expanded to other areas, including the Kargil sector and the IB. The
Pakistanis had beheaded one soldier and mutilated the body of another. The
violations continue notwithstanding the recent elections that saw Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif come to power. Sharif has been pledging peace and harmony
in bilateral relations. Instead, soon after coming to power, Sharif’s
government passed an anti-India resolution while extending support to the
Kashmiri ‘struggle’ against the Indian Union. On Sunday, Sharif went on to seek
US President Barack Obama’ intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue. All these
events seem to indicate that Sharif is either reneging on his earlier stand or
that he is not in control of the forces inimical to India, especially the
Pakistani Army and the ISI.

It may be too
early to conclude that the situation along the LoC and the IB is returning to
the pre-November 2003 period when firing, attacks and counter-attacks by the
two armies were the norm. But there remains a danger that the situation may
escalate if such incidents continue. Sharif needs to rein in his Army and put a
stop to ceasefire violations if he wants a meaningful peace process. The Indian
Army needs to stay alert to such attacks and take all measures necessary to
deal with Pakistani belligerence on the borders.

Bureaucratic
hurdles and government indecision continue to cripple India’s Army
modernization plans, and planners say with no major acquisitions in the past
five years, the Army must fight a domestic low-intensity conflict with
outdated, ineffective weaponry.

The Army faces a
weapons shortfall with an inventory about 40 percent to nearly 65 percent
outdated, the planners added.

The planners
warned that unless US $50 billion in new acquisitions are put on a fast track,
the Army’s defense preparedness will be pushed back by at least 10 years.

One senior Army
official said infantry, mechanized and armored forces, artillery, logistics,
ordnance, air defense and aviation all face vast equipment shortfalls, and
major purchases are 10 years behind schedule.

“We are even not prepared for
basic war with our hostile neighbor Pakistan,” the Army official said.

Land forces will continue to
be of prime importance, given the geopolitical situation, said most analysts.

“With over 15,000 kilometers
of land boundary, almost one-third of which is disputed, a continental war will
continue to be relevant both in the conventional and subconventional paradigm,”
said Rahul Bhonsle, retired Indian Army brigadier general and defense analyst.
“The Indian Army will have to sustain the present capabilities while upgrading
these to fight in a mobile, network-centric environment in the deserts, plains
and the mountains.

“For this, focus on
upgradation of weapons and equipment, as well as human resources, would be
necessary to cope with future challenges.”

Budget allocations have not
been a major problem; complex Defence Ministry bureaucratic processes have
largely been responsible for delays in procurement of essential weapons and
equipment, several Army officials said.

For 2013-14, the Army received
$3.3 billion out of $37.71 billion in total defense allocations, to buy new
weapons and equipment, about the same amount it received for 2012-13. And yet,
the Army returned nearly $259 million from fiscal 2012 because several defense
programs could not be finalized.

The Army has to prepare to
fight China and Pakistan simultaneously, an Army official said. But military
planners privately say the pace of preparedness is slow.

“I see the defense
preparedness only worsening as we go by and our mighty forces will still
continue to operate and fight in the most inhospitable terrain and against a
better equipped enemy, albeit for the motherland; and in return, the land
responds with scanty respect for the heroes who are prepared to lay down their
lives without even blinking an eye,” said K.V. Kuber, retired Indian Army
colonel and defense analyst.

Defense planners also said
there is little progress in replacing obsolete Army weapons and equipment.
India needs to upgrade its rudimentary command, control, communication,
intelligence and surveillance capabilities and improve its ability to launch
offensive operations in the mountains, said Gurmeet Kanwal, retired Indian Army
brigadier general and defense analyst.

Defence Ministry
declines to share information on controversial Technical Support Division set
up by former Army chief VK Singh

The TSD has been
accused of carrying out unauthorised operations and financial wrongdoings. It
has also been accused of illegally carrying out activities for destabilising
the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Information on the activities of the
controversial Technical Support Division (TSD), an intelligence unit set up by
former army chief V K Singh, is still out of bounds for the public.

The Defence
Ministry has declined to share information related to functioning of TSD that
had created a major political storm after General Singh had claimed that army
had regularly paid money to ministers and politicians in Jammu and Kashmir. He
had come under attack from various sections on his statements.

"In so far as
your request for supply of order regarding setting up of 'TSD' and enquiry
etc., are concerned, it is regretted that the same cannot be supplied in terms
of Section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act," the Ministry said in reply to an RTI
query.

The Section bars
disclosure of information which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and
integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests
of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.

The Defence
Ministry was asked to give a copy of the order and file notings regarding
setting up of TSD. It was also asked to provide detail of complaints of
irregularities received against the snoop unit.

The TSD has been
accused of carrying out unauthorised operations and financial wrongdoings. It
has also been accused of illegally carrying out activities for destabilising
the Jammu and Kashmir government.

General Singh, who
had denied the charges levelled against him and the unit, has also filed an RTI
application seeking information on TSD.

An Army report
about the TSD, which was also accused of illegally tapping phones of senior
Defence Ministry officials, has been submitted to the Defence Ministry and a
probe has been recommended against its functioning.

The report was
prepared by Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, as part
of a Board of Officers (BOO) formed by Gen Bikram Singh to review the working
of TSD.

The TSD was
reportedly formed after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks on the basis of an operational
directive given to the Army by the Defence Minister to perform a particular
task to secure the borders and internal situation in the country. It is now
defunct.

A month after
cutting short meeting, House panel to discuss defence preparedness today

NEW DELHI: The
parliamentary standing committee on defence has changed its original schedule
to include fresh briefing on threat perception and preparedness of armed forces
along the border. The meeting, scheduled for Monday morning, comes in the wake
of a TOI report that the original meeting held on October 9 was abandoned
midway by the members led by its chairman Raj Babbar, with the excuse that some
of them had to catch flights home.

According to
sources, the Parliament secretariat last week changed the original plan for
Monday to include "threat perception and preparedness of the forces
including incursion on borders". Under the original schedule issued to
members earlier, it was to be held in the afternoon, and solely focused on
various issues regarding Sainik Schools.

Under the revised
plan, the standing committee will meet at 11.30 in the morning in the
Parliament library building.

The TOI report on
the callousness of the standing committee had kicked up all-round protests,
with many political observers and dozens on social media ridiculing the
political insensitivity at a time when the Indian Army was fighting
terrorist-infiltrators in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Monday's meeting
will be briefed by the top brass of the defence ministry and senior leaders of
all three services on threat perception and preparedness, coordination mechanism
with paramilitary forces, and border connectivity by rail, air and road. The
meeting will be followed by a working lunch.

In the afternoon,
the standing committee will take oral evidence from defence ministry
representatives and chief secretaries of seven states regarding action taken by
them on a parliamentary report on functioning of Sainik Schools. The report had
pointed out several problems with the way Sainik Schools were being run.

Sainik Schools,
feeder organizations for the National Defence Academy, have been facing several
financial and management issues, with its students, even from poor economic
conditions, being forced to pay exorbitant fees.

The Babbar-led
standing committee's attempt at getting a fresh briefing on border issues comes
even as an American ship with a large cache of arms and ammunition was found
roaming in Indian waters. All 33 crew members of the ship have been arrested in
Chennai, even as the security establishment is baffled by the ship's intentions
and huge armoury.

The standing
committee's attitude towards the briefing being done by defence secretary,
director general of military operations and other senior officials on October 9
was clearly symbolic of the ineffective role of parliamentary oversight
committees in India. Many also pointed out that the government doesn't show
much faith in the MPs who populate these committees, who are often not even
given updated information.

A little over an
hour into the October 9 meeting, even before the Army had finished its
briefing, and Navy and IAF were awaiting their turn, Babbar called off the
meeting. The excuse given was that many members had to catch flights back home.

For six decades,
slow progress in developing indigenous defence equipment and a Nehruvian
squeamishness about exporting arms have together made India’s presence in the
international arms only that of a buyer — last year the world’s biggest.

That has begun to
change. A large Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) team is heading to Seoul,
in South Korea, where it will be one of the biggest exhibitors at the Aerospace
and Defence Exhibition (ADEX-2013) later this month.

The DRDO will
display a variety of indigenous defence systems at Seoul, including the Akash
surface-to-air missile (SAM), the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the
Pragati surface-to-surface missile (SSM), an airborne early warning system
(AEWS) and several other high-technology systems like sonar, battlefield
radars, and identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) systems.

After half a
century of operating below the international radar, often in the teeth of tough
international sanctions, the DRDO’s emergence at Seoul highlights a growing
confidence. With Rs 1,57,000 crore worth of DRDO-developed systems already in
service with the Indian military and more on the cusp of delivery, the DRDO is
targeting the Asia-Pacific region, where the rise of an assertive China is
driving strong defence spending.

“A large number of products
developed by DRDO and produced by Indian Industry including those being
displayed at ADEX-2013, have immense export potential,” says the DRDO.

The military’s reluctance to
induct DRDO weaponry into its arsenal has hindered overseas interest in Indian
equipment. That is changing with the army and air force placing large orders of
Akash SAM systems, the Tejas fighter entering squadron service, the Arjun tank
proving its capability in comparative trials with the Russian T-90, and a
string of development successes in ballistic missiles, radars and avionics.

The DRDO chief, Avinash
Chander, confirms that at least two south-east Asian countries have expressed
interest in buying the Indo-Soviet Brahmos supersonic cruise missile. He has
declined to name the countries, but MoD insiders say they include Vietnam and
Indonesia. There is also interest in the Akash SAM.

Significant foreign orders
would drive down production costs, which are high because the Indian military
places such small orders that economies of scale are unobtainable. The air
force has so far ordered just one squadron of Tejas (20 aircraft), with one
more squadron promised later. The army has ordered just 124 Arjun tanks, while
an order of at least 300 tanks is needed for indigenising key components like
the thermal imaging sights by purchasing technology and manufacturing them in
India.

The DRDO intends to set up a
marketing arm, a measure recommended by the Rama Rao Committee in its still
classified 2008 report, entitled “Reconfiguring DRDO”. Meanwhile, the DRDO is
doing its marketing in-house. In August, it sold an American company the
technology to manufacture an Explosive Detection Kit in the US.

“We have been hesitant in
showing our capabilities in building weapons. But in ADEX-2013, we will be
telling the world that India is here. Our presence at Seoul will provide an
opportunity for building technology partnerships for R&D and manufacture,
and for creating export potential,” says Chander.

Several private sector
companies that have partnered DRDO in manufacturing advanced defence platforms
will also attend ADEX-2013. Tata Power (Strategic Electronics Division), which
has built two of the Akash launchers that will be on display, will make its
presence felt in Seoul. So too will public sector undertakings, Bharat
Electronics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

“We want to project not just
the DRDO, but all of India’s emerging defence capabilities. Indian industries
are well-poised to emerge as Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers to foreign original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which will build capabilities and enhance
exports,” points out the DRDO chief.

Among the hurdles before foreign
vendors who choose to partner Indian companies are obtaining licences to
produce defence equipment in India; and obtaining export permissions. The DRDO
chief says these are not major issues, and the MoD would evaluate overseas
requests on a case-by-case basis.

ADEX is being held at Seoul
from October 29 to November 3, with more than 30 countries participating. The
MoD has planned an Indo-Korean defence meet, where the Minister of State for
Defence, Jitendra Singh will deliver the inaugural address, and an Indo-Korean
industries meet.

India is inclined
to encourage the two key army officers - Directors General of Military
Operations - in Delhi and Islamabad to hold one-to-one meetings to restore
peace along the border rather than jump to any conclusions about the recent
ceasefire violations.

"The DGMOs
are in touch with each other. It is for them to find a way to do the job that
they have been tasked to do," official sources accompanying Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on his back-to-back visits to Russia and China said in Moscow.

New Delhi and
Islamabad had decided to get the DGMOs - who speak every Tuesday as part of an
institutional mechanism - to sit across the table after Singh and Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly last month. Such interactions usually take place in the vicinity of a
border post.

The initiative had
come in the backdrop of the Indian army reporting a concerted attempt by
Pakistan army backed militants to infiltrate into the country in north
Kashmir's Keran sector, a charge that the defence establishment in Islamabad
was quick to brush aside. Also, there were conflicting reports on the extent
and nature of the intrusions.

On Saturday,
Border Security Force guards bore the brunt of ceasefire violations along the
International Border.

The DGMO-level
talks have not happened so far, but official sources said both sides were
working towards it.

In the meantime,
New Delhi is going to make a full-fledged assessment of the ceasefire
violations.

It was common for
the number of attempted infiltrations to spike before the onset of winters. Pakistani
forces often give the infiltrators covering fire if need be.

"It needs to
be seen if the ceasefire violations are linked to the intrusion attempts,"
said a government source.

"We need to
see how the pattern has changed and if the nature of the violations has
changed," the source said, adding that New Delhi will "draw
conclusions" about Pakistan's behaviour in light of this analysis.

In addition to
specialised counter terrorist operations in J&K, the UAVs are expected to
be used to collect intelligence and perform reconnaissance along LoC with
Pakistan and Sino-India border in Lakdah.